Daniel Alfredsson earned his spot to compete in fifth Olympics for Sweden

The Olympics are the biggest sporting event there is,' he says

By
Chuck Pleiness, The Macomb Daily

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

DETROIT >> Competing for your country at the Winter Olympics is something special for athletes around the world.

Daniel Alfredsson is getting to experience that feeling for a fifth time this year.

“That’s amazing,” Niklas Kronwall said when told how many times his Swedish teammate has competed in the Games. “To be able to play at that level where he’s at, at his age, that really amazes me. I’m sure we haven’t seen (the last) of him. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he sticks around for another few years.”

“To do it this many times I don’t know if it will ever happen again in Swedish history,” Jonas Gustavsson said. “That means you have to be a top, top elite player for more than 20 years but he is and that’s pretty tough to do. I think it’s really cool for Alfie to finish off with the international team this way, hopefully with a gold, that would be awesome.”

Alfredsson is one of six Wings who will compete for Sweden at the Games in Sochi, Russia. Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Johnathan Ericsson, Kronwall and Gustavsson are the other five.

“I think most of us have played with each other one or another time with the national team,” Alfredsson said. “With Detroit, their core group has been together a long time. Bringing them all over is going to be a good cornerstone for our (Olympic) team. With Henrik and Niklas in leading roles it bodes well for our team.”

Alfredsson’s first Olympic appearance was in Nagano, Japan in 1998.

“The first one you don’t know what to expect,” Alfredsson said. “Then after that I think it’s that you’re just excited to participate again. I thought Vancouver (2010) was going to be my last one. I brought my family and a lot of friends came as well to watch.

“That’s what’s great too that family and friends get to experience being around the Olympics,” Alfredsson continued. “It can be a logistics nightmare at times but everybody’s in a good mood and sharing stories and it doesn’t matter what country you’re from so it’s a great feeling.”

Sweden opens competition Wednesday at noon against the Czech Republic.

Alfredsson, 41, signed a one-year contract this past offseason with the Wings, leaving Ottawa where he had spent his entire career.

He’s got 14 goals and 21 assists in 46 games this season with Detroit, which helped him earn his spot on the roster that’s loaded with talent.

“I think when I decided I wanted to play another year in the NHL that was the main thing, trying to win the Stanley Cup, but then obviously being an Olympic year that became a goal as well,” Alfredsson said. “I was hoping I would stay healthy and play my way on the team. I didn’t want to just have a token spot. I’m really excited to have made the team.

“The Olympics are the biggest sporting event there is,” Alfredsson added. “You’re there to represent your country and play for a medal. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Alfredsson has played some of his best hockey at the Olympics, totaling 11 goals and 20 assists in 20 games.

Sweden has won gold once in his past four appearances and finished fifth the other three times.

“That’s the beauty of it being a short tournament, it’s do or die,” Alfredsson said. “First of all you have to get into the quarterfinal. Once you’re there it’s do or die, which makes it kind of neat as well.

“You’re there for a short period of time and you know you have to click at the right time and everybody’s trying to find tricks to do that as quick as possible, gel with your team,” Alfredsson added. “The only negative would be, I wish we had a few more days before our first game, but obviously with the schedule it’s tough to make that work. If we could have gotten there five days before our first game I think it would be even a better experience.”

Alfredsson is also a fan of other Olympic events, including curling, biathlon, skiing and speed skating.

“Usually, every team has their own building, or part of a building where they share with Swedish athletes in our case,” Alfredsson said. “We usually sit in a lounge and watch other events there, and there’s always a schedule of today’s events. So that’s always fun.”

Sweden also plays Switzerland (Friday) and Latvia (Saturday) in their other preliminary games.

“It’s probably the highest level of hockey that you can get, and then playing for your country is always special and an honoring feeling,” Alfredsson said. “Beside from our own sport it’s just the whole atmosphere around the village that I find it being one of the best parts about it, walking around, seeing all the different athletes and meeting other people in the dining room or sharing different stories, it’s just incredibly cool.”

Send comments to chuck.pleiness@macombdaily.com and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com